r/Vintagetools

You can still find these pliers at flea-markets and yard sales, and I say grab ‘em when you can. These pliers will never disappoint when used properly.

The Ridge Co 43 CPN pipe machinist Vice
Late 60s Wilton
Old delta bench drill press pulled out of a scrap pile.
1957 GE fridge. (Considered a tool to me)

Homemade ?

[SOLVED: it's a Dado plane that's missing the front nicking iron. Thanks to u/halbert for the info.]

I picked it up for $10 at a garage sale on impulse. It's clearly missing an iron up front but I'd like to fine a replacement one if possible. The brass screw on top raises and lowers a steel ski that is parallel to the cutting face. I couldn't find anything quite like it with a few Google searches and I'm unclear to it's function. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

I am looking for any information on this early/vintage combination wrench. I bought it at a flea market for $5. The A-120 seems to have been reused as it also comes back to some sort of special deep socket.

Does anyone have a grandfather they could ask about this?

I am putting together a box of early/vintage tools and I would like some info on this.

I was only able to find one ebay listing. Other than that I cannot find ANY info on when this was made and what it was used for.

The tool is modified. Sadly someone cut off one of the 8pt sections, which is visible in pics 3 and 4.

Snagged this bad boi off of Facebook marketplace for $40. Seller stated it’d been sitting in their attic, and that they’d had it for at least 15 years. They said it was used but when I got it the inserts were not assembled and sitting in one of the trays with all the pictures papers sitting in the bottom. Perhaps it was used, but very gently, so it feels practically new, only the exterior really shows any signs of wear and even that more like it’s just been moved around from storage place to storage place.

All I’ve done with it so far is take a microfiber and use some wd40 to wipe it down, as I’d read that was approved for this brown finish? Also wiped down basically every surface. I then assembled the inserts and put them in there

What I plan to do next as I do intend to actually use this instead of having it sit around, but I do also want to take care of it:
- use some paste wax, most likely minwax but I was wondering how bad of an idea would it be to use something like turtle wax hard shell? And basically going over all surfaces, inside and out
- oil moving hinges with ballistol (or mineral oil?)
- line the interior bottoms with non adhesive toolbox liner, something like craftsman foam drawer liner (including under the inserts), this is to both protect the interior some as well as decrease noise.

Things I was debating:
- adding some kind of adhesive feet? Rubber or those felt pads?
- placing some desiccant in there, maybe some silica packs?
- the hardware has a kind of patina? It looks like a stuck on film of sitting grime with maybe some surface rust spots. I had tried scrubbing with the microfiber and wd40 but it didn’t help much. What’s something safe I could use to maybe clean it up some or do I even need to? I was thinking maybe some 0000 steel wool with some wd40 but want to avoid abrasives out of fear of messing it up if it’s some kind of played hardware and not solid. Also with chemicals I wanna make sure it doesn’t mess up the surrounding paint. But also if it’s not bad I’m fine with the hardware showing some signs of age.

Please advise, is any of this unnecessary, should I do some other things as well, something differently? I want it to be functional and to transfer my tools into it for use, but I also want to treat it well.

Additionally if anybody has any other cool info about this box based off what all is included such as how old it likely is that would be incredible. I wanna learn as much as I can about this? I imagine I can’t really mail in anything to any effect lol

Also, obviously, as per the title, how’d I do with this find?

40 dollar auction find thinking early 1940s !

There is so much parts with it, I don't know what are they. Seem some of them are for a milling, not a lathe.

Everything seems to work on it, apart a smaller 4 jaws chuck, a screw is broken in it.

Oil is thick on it, I would start by cleaning it and re-oil it.

Any Facebook/Reddit group recommendations on that particular model/brand? I would like to be able to do metric threads, I think it's complicated.

Also, can we know the fabrication year from the Serial Number?

I found this in a Kennedy toolbox I got off marketplace along with a bunch of other machinist accessories like toolmaker clamps, setup blocks, etc. with old owners stamped initials.

Wanted to sharpen some mower blades so I asked the old man if he had an extra vise. Couple weeks later he shows up with my great grandfather‘s Wilton. I plan to restore and use it but would like to apply a paint coating of the same if not similar color. Any ideas on what the original color would have been? Looks mostly grey but the green on the side made we question.

Do you think this is worth selling?

It's been exceedingly belt sander heavy here in my repair shop. Having fitted new seals in a Porter-Cable 500G2 and major reworks on a pair of Rockwell 503s, it's time to tackle a group of A-3 sanders. Three of them are Porter-Cable versions from the early '50s, and the fourth is a Rockwell-badged 504 from the late '60s/early '70s. Of the four, there are only two with viable worm gears, so the best pair ( an A-3 that was made for the Canadian market, and the Rockwell ) will get sorted out right away. The best of the two remaining will be in drydock until I find someone willing to pay for a new gear ( it was given to me, but I have all the A-3s I want, so a new home is in order ), and the last one ... Well, it will give the gift of life to another sander some day.

Debuting in1944, the A-3/504 is the longest produced handheld power tool of all time, being made virtually unchanged until 2009. Far and away the most popular of Porter-Cable's worm drive sanders, it was even offered with an air motor, a version known as the 61E.

I've worked on every model of belt sander that Porter-Cable offered over the years, from the original B-5 to the doomed 371 , but the A-3 is by far the most frequent patient. At this point, I would estimate that I've repaired 120-150 A-3's, a testimony to how valued this classic workhorse is to craftsmen everywhere.

I found this old hammer whilst cleaning out my girlfriends old barn. I wonder if it's professionally made or homemade. It looks too well made to be home made, at least the head, but it looks weird...

I think the one is a saw set, but I’m not sure.

I inherited this tool from my grandfather’s workshop and I’d love to find out what it was used for.

He worked for Salters Steamers in Oxford for around 70 years and spent his life working on boats and machinery, building and maintaining boats, converting steam/coal-powered boats to diesel, driving them, and pretty much everything in between. He also worked on boats during the war, although he rarely spoke about that part of his life.

A number of his old tools were collected together in the workshop and I inherited some of them, including this.

It has plier-type handles, an adjustable hooked end on one side and an adjustable pointed screw on the other. I can’t find any obvious maker’s marks.
Does anyone recognise it? I’m particularly curious whether it’s a manufactured specialist tool, something that’s been modified, or possibly something he made himself for a particular job.